Back It Up

Back, or end, matter comprises all material after the main body of the text, including your compelling up sell, instructions on how to get your (legal bribe) bonus, appendices, endnotes, the glossary, the bibliography, and the index.

Up Sell

The most important back matter, the only one you can’t leave out, is the compelling up sell, the next step for the reader. This is the one that will turn your manuscript into a business.

What is the next logical step for the reader? To put the book on the shelf and forget about you? No, of course not. This is where most books miss the mark. You get to the end of the book and it says something crazy like “Good Luck” or “See you at the top” or heaven forbid the two worst words to put in a business book: “THE END”.

Remember we are building relationships as well as your business. What good is the credibility of having a New York publisher publish your book if you don’t use it to your advantage?

What I’m talking about is giving the reader, who is already interested in you, an opportunity to go to the next level. Be it a coaching course or Teleseminar series, or even the audio version of the very book they just finished – the reality is most books don’t get finished, so if you have a hand holding option for them, most will take it.

Our Guerrilla Marketing series takes it to an even higher level. Each book in the series makes references to the other books in the series (and not just an, oh, by the way, reference – a “learn more about this in…”). Each book also offers an audio CD version, a DVD training video with workbooks option to graduate to. Finally the DVD up sells to the seminars. Of course the Guerrilla Marketing free bonus is only free for the first 2 months then is nearly $50 per month all the while teaching more and deepening the relationship (Check it out here: www.Morgan-James.com/gma)

Appendices

Appendices offer useful supplementary material that would disrupt the text if included there. If you have more than one, each should be lettered and titled. Appendices should be typed in the same manner as the text body.

Endnotes

During the editing and design process, we will decide together whether to use footnotes or endnotes. Refer to the “Footnotes and endnotes” section in Body Text for instructions on preparing notes.

Suppliers

If your appendices include a list of suppliers or sources of information, alphabetized address listings must follow the U.S. Postal Service format. Be sure to double-space all listings. Use standard abbreviations such as St., Ave., Rd., etc., in the street addresses, adhering to the USPS-approved two-letter abbreviation for the state. Provide addresses in list form (not run-on). For example, for U.S. addresses:

Company name
Street address
City, State Zip code

If you include telephone numbers or fax numbers, type them on separate lines immediately following the address.

For non-U.S. addresses, the country should be typed by itself, in all uppercase, on the last line.

Glossary

A glossary provides definitions for an alphabetized list of technical or important terms used in the text. Start it on a new page, titled “Glossary.” Print it out or type it double-spaced, leaving no extra space between entries or between alphabetical groupings. Keep the following in mind:

*    Type each entry flush left; do not indent runover lines.
*    Start each entry with a lowercase letter unless it is an acronym, a normally capitalized abbreviation, or a proper noun.
*    If you use an abbreviation or acronym as an entry, remember to include the full term, either in parentheses following the entry or as part of the definition.
*    Type two hyphens between the entry and the definition.
*    Start each definition with an uppercase letter.
*    Ensure that each definition correctly defines the case (singular or plural) and part of speech of the entry.
*    End each definition with a period.

Bibliography

You will need to include a bibliography if your book contains reference citations but no end-of-chapter reference lists. A bibliography usually lists titles alphabetically by author. Occasionally a bibliography with references arranged by chapter, subject, or type of source material might be more useful.

The University of Chicago’s Manual of Style offers more detailed guidelines. (When referring to the Manual of Style, remember that we use the author-date system for both reference lists and bibliographies.) Bibliographical entries should be typed or printed out double-spaced.

Index

Bookstore browsers often consult the index of a book first to determine whether it covers the topics that interest them. If the index directs the reader quickly to his or her desired topic, the book is deemed useful. If the index is not helpful, the book often is passed over for another.

Purpose

The purpose of an index is to refer the user quickly to desired topics. Specific topics often are covered in several different sections of a book; the index should refer the reader to all such sections. Most books, especially technical and reference books, are much more useful with a detailed index. Readers use the index to browse through the book, and librarians often make their selections based on a book’s index. Thus the index can be an important sales feature.

Who is responsible?

You, the author, are responsible for the index. Most authors prefer to hire a freelance indexer for preparation of the index and pay the cost directly.

In deciding whether to do the indexing yourself, consider whether you have the time and inclination to prepare it. The index must be prepared after the book is laid out but before it goes to the printer; therefore, a very short period of time, often less than two weeks, is allowed for index preparation.

Preparing an index

Index preparation is a highly specialized part of the publishing process, beyond the scope of this guide. If you decide to prepare the index yourself, refer to the University of Chicago’s Manual of Style.

If you prepare the index, you’ll need to submit it to your author relations. The Morgan James editorial department can do the work for you for a fee, just let us know if you need our help.

About the author

Include with your manuscript a paragraph about yourself, discussing your credentials and background. A page about the author that emphasizes your qualifications as an expert in the subject will lend credibility to your book. This page should be written in the third person (otherwise, it will sound pompous). It may even be humorous, if appropriate. If space allows, this page will appear in the book following the index.

We are delighted to be publishing your book and look forward to working with you.